Flower Avower
by MeTalkEnglish
Summary: A former princess hopes to make a new life in a new land.
1. Chapter 1

The sky was overcast. A few sheep were finishing up their grazing of the dull green grass. The light sprinkling that had been occurring was just beginning to turn into a heavier rain as Exaivi paused to open up her umbrella. She listened for a beat or two as the raindrops started to patter against her metallic parasol before continuing down the empty dirt road.

After a couple of minutes of walking in the increasingly soggy dirt, Exaivi reached a split in the road. To her right was a large castle on a hill protected by a huge stone wall. On second glance, the wall seemed to be protecting more than just a castle, judging by the way it looped out of sight around the hill. The road led up to a large gate, and Exaivi could distantly see two armed knights guarding it. One of them was talking to someone, and though she was too far away to know for sure, Exaivi thought they weren't wearing the rich clothing one might expect on a noble. In fact, they seemed to be wearing simple city clothing. R _ocheste,_ she thought. The two iconic towers rising from somewhere inside the city all but confirmed her suspicions.

Deciding that further squinting was pointless, Exaivi turned around. There wasn't much to see down the left path of the road beyond a few useless fences, but she knew that this must be the path to Colhen: a town small enough to feel homely, but large enough to benefit from services like a blacksmith, a general store, and an inn.

And, if her sources were right, a mercenary unit.

Exaivi turned back to give Rocheste another look. It seemed almost dark and gloomy in the rain. A chill breeze flew by. Exaivi shivered and pulled her traveling cloak tighter around herself as she started to walk toward Colhen. Her journey was immediately cut short as she accidentally ran into a hooded figure in a white robe.

"Watch your sstep!" they hissed.

"Oh, I'm s-sorry, I was…" Exaivi started to say, but the figure was already hurrying out of sight down the path she had come. She frowned at the unpleasantness of the experience, but it wasn't surprising. The rain could make some people very irritable. Exaivi thought about how her brief acquaintance must be getting mud in their boots, going as fast as they were.

She almost smiled at that as she began the short, final trek to Colhen.


	2. Chapter 2

Kicking the worst of the mud off her shoes and tucking her umbrella away, Exaivi entered the mercenary outpost and looked around. People were milling about with a vague sense of relaxation, as if they'd just come back from a fruitful day of work. There was plenty of small chatter going on, but a larger congregation of mercenaries were sitting around a fireplace at the back, listening to a young blonde woman as she gestured excitedly about a story she was telling. Curious, Exaivi moved closer to get a better listen, and maybe let the fire warm her a little.

"You should have seen him! He was all over those gnolls, slamming them into walls and throwing them into barrels and stuff! And that huge trunk he was walking around with earlier?" The woman's pixielike face was animated as she put her arm up as if resting an actual tree trunk on her shoulder, though Exaivi doubted her slim figure could actually put off such a feat. "He actually THREW it at them!"

She pretended to throw an imaginary tree trunk across the room, and Exaivi almost laughed at how ridiculous she looked. One of the seated mercenaries actually did laugh before saying, "Oh come on, Ellytra. There's no way he actually _threw_ his weapon at the enemy."

The woman, Ellytra, nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yes, he certainly did! Isn't that right, Rhino?" she said to the man standing next to her. He was slightly shorter than Ellytra, and seemed to be rather fat. Exaivi thought he had even less of a chance of throwing a tree trunk than his eager companion. She almost started giggling to herself when she realized that the man was not actually standing. He was sitting; and what Exaivi had previously thought was fat was actually just pure muscle. There was no other way she could describe it. His shirt must have been the largest size available, yet it still seemed stretched nearly to the point of bursting.

Suddenly, she could feel the floor vibrating slightly as the man, Rhino, rumbled in a deep voice, "Hmm, I suppose I did throw it once or twice." He gave Ellytra a wide grin.

She beamed back at him before continuing. "And then you know what happened? We were fighting that spider, and it looked like it was going to pounce. And then it did! But Rhino stopped it! He grabbed one of its… leg… pincer-things and just stopped it! Then he pushed it back and kicked it in the face!" Ellytra mimed the actions dramatically as she spoke. This, combined with her ceaseless grin, made it hard to take her seriously. "And then-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, then you two fought it some more, did _cool_ stuff, and squashed the life out of it with the bell," an irritated voice said from another part of the room. Irritatingly. "And thank the Goddess for that. That giant spider thing was freaking me the fu-"

" _Gallagher!_ " came a disapproving voice from a young woman with red hair. "Wenshardt was our guardian! And he was Tieve's friend."

"Yeah, well, Tieve has got some weird friends." His expression changed. "Now, maybe if she let me, I could show her wh-"

" _Gallagher._ " Exaivi was starting to think was a common occurrence as an older man came out of a back room, clearly displeased with this Gallagher. He had a certain air of authority around him as he asked, "What do you think you're doing?"

Gallagher rolled his eyes. "I was just making conversation, Captain." He shrugged in a bored way.

"Then maybe you can make our storage room a little more clean?" the captain suggested, nodding towards a nearby broom. It clearly wasn't a suggestion. Gallagher mumbled something as he got up, grabbing the broom bitterly before walking through the door to the storage room. The captain turned to quickly scan the room. His eyes rested a little longer on Exaivi as he recognized an unfamiliar face, then looked back as he realized she had a glaive sticking up just behind her head. He said something to the red-headed woman before going back into the room he had come from.

Exaivi suddenly felt uneasy and wondered if she was even allowed in here, or if she was supposed to have a weapon. The group of mercenaries near the fireplace had started talking amongst themselves. Ellytra had sat down, and Exaivi was thinking about how big Rhino looked next to everyone else when she heard someone talking to her.

"Um, excuse me." Exaivi turned to see the red-haired woman looking at her.

Exaivi found herself stammering a sudden apology for the second time that day. "Oh, sorry! I didn't really realize about um... having weapons... in here..."

The woman gave her a slightly confused look. "Oh! You don't need to worry about that, especially if you're a mercenary!" She gave Exaivi a warm smile and held out her hand. "My name is Ceara."

"Oh. Exaivi," Exaivi said, shaking Ceara's hand a little nervously.

"Nice to meet you, Exaivi. You seem to be new around here. Are you looking to become a mercenary?" Ceara asked.

"Oh, yes," Exaivi said.

"Oh, good!" Ceara teased gently, smiling at her. Exaivi blushed as she smiled back. "There's just one or two things to sign, here." She handed Exaivi a couple of papers, along with a feather and inkwell. "Aodhan is our captain. He may seem a little young, but he's experienced. And he's fair. As for me, my name is Ceara, like I said. I tend to help out the new recruits. And, oh," she said with a smile, "we've been getting quite a few lately. Those two over there joined a few days ago." Exaivi looked up from the papers to see her pointing at where Ellytra and Rhino sat. "They seem to be pretty good, too. I got to see her train the other day and she really is something. It makes me wonder if they really even benefit from my help, haha!" Ceara laughed, but something in the way she did caught Exaivi's attention.

"I'm sure the rest of us rookies could use all the help you can give," Exaivi said as she handed Ceara her signed papers and smiled brightly.

Ceara smiled back at her. "Thanks, Exaivi. Say, have you figured out a place to stay? A room in the inn, perhaps?"

Exaivi shook her head. "No. I came here first."

"Ah, maybe I can show you around Colhen then!" Ceara frowned slightly and looked out the window, seeing that the rain was persisting. "Or maybe when the weather's a little nicer. I can at least help you get settled in the inn, if you'd like? Haha, get it? In the inn?"

Exaivi grinned. "I'd be very grateful."


End file.
